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7 things you should do if you're an Android user

There are so many useful things you can do with Android that you probably don't even know. From custom ROMs to gorgeous launchers, apps, LED notifications, gesture controls, icon packs and tweaks, there is plenty to keep you happy for a while. Here are seven things every Android owner should try.

1. Prioritize notifications

On Android 8.0 Oreo, the handling of notifications has been greatly improved. You can go into individual apps and control whether you see the notification dots (a dot that appears above the icon) and more. This is a great way to prioritize and tailor your phone to suit your needs by altering the different settings. This is especially handy if you're a bit of an app hoarder!

Press and hold the app you want to change to bring up the menu

Choose from the settings available to you, including the notification dot

2. Supercharge your Wi-Fi

Did you know you can tell Chrome to save time and money by reducing data usage? Most people don't. By using this setting, I've cut my data usage by 30 percent in the past month. How's that for easy savings?

Likewise, did you know you can tell your phone to keep Wi-Fi on during sleep?

Just go to Settings > Wi-Fi > Advanced

Click on Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep

Select Always

Doing this means that not only will you download things while your phone's display is off, but you will also save battery life, because your phone won't have to reconnect to Wi-Fi every time you wake it up.

3. Optimize your battery

No matter which Android device you have, there are ways to improve the battery life from the get-go. Firstly, you should turn off 'ambient display' or 'adaptive brightness'. This setting changes the display brightness based on the current lighting conditions, but it's not perfect.

The sensor used to determine the light levels is not as accurate as the human eye, you can set a more appropriate display brightness for the current circumstances, and as the display is a key area where battery life is lost, make sure you keep this at the lowest level possible.

Additionally, all of the major Android UIs come with some form of battery saving mode. While the strengths of each vary, they are worth digging into to see how they can be best applied for your particular needs. For example, Sony's Stamina mode alters very little in terms of performance and it's one of those you can (and probably should) have enabled at all times.

The stock Android battery-saving function affects performance and app functionality quite heavily, so it might worth considering using this only when it's essential. HTC's Power Saver, on the other hand, has several options that you can enable or disable within it, making it a little less rigid than the others.

Investigate the battery functions on your device by going into the settings and looking for battery, power or something similar.

4. Grant app permissions individually

This is something that has been available since Android Marshmallow. It has a cool feature you should try: granular app permissions. This feature allows you to give apps permission to access hardware or data on your phone on a need basis. So if an app needs to access the microphone, it'll ask you for permission to do so when you launch the app and the app needs to use this piece of hardware.

For Android versions before Marshmallow, you had to grant that permission before downloading the app in the Play Store. We assumed that denying some app permissions within third-party apps could break them. But now you can manage these permissions individually. Give it a try.

5. Use Google Assistant, enable always listening

You're probably familiar with Google Assistant, which you can use to retrieve information quickly and easily. But it's also so much more than that: Google Assistant can interact with your apps, take notes, set reminders along with a whole bunch of other clever tricks.

The more you use Google Assistant the more you realize what an excellent service it is. To give a simple example, say you wish to take an afternoon nap, but are already in that sleepy state and about to nod off. You don't need to reach for your phone and open your clock app, calculate the time you want to wake and set an alarm for then. Just say "Okay Google, wake me up in two hours."

6. Set up Find my Device

How Find My Device is not pre-enabled on every single Android phone I simply don't know. Find my Device is a great tool that lets you track a lost or stolen phone, remotely lock it, ring it, or delete its contents and even display a lock screen message for anyone that finds it. It may not be the sexiest thing you do with your Android phone, but it should be the first thing you do.

You'll find the permissions for Find my Device in the Google Setting app under Security. You can enable it to remotely locate your phone as well as lock or erase its contents. But you'll also need to activate it as a device administrator.

7. Save time with NFC

Many people don't even realize what NFC is, how it works or what it can do for you. But NFC is brilliant. A single tap can pair your Bluetooth headphones to your phone, transfer all of the contents of your old phone to a new one, or even send a default message to a contact when you walk in the door at home. For more information about it, click below:

Some guy even implanted an NFC chip in his hand so he'd never have to unlock his phone again. You don't have to go that far, but an NFC-equipped device and a pack of NFC tags will change your life and save you tons of time. NFC is one of the coolest and underrated things to do with your Android.

What else should everyone do with their Android? Share your tips in the comments.

Wow!!! This is awesome and very helpful in many ways. I have already done everything on this list. If we use all Points in our device very carefully, then our phone worked a long time, and anything that can be done in one Android device, as long as they have the same version of android, except if limited by hardware.

Kris, I love your write-ups. They are overwhelmingly simple and so much useful to every Android user. This one is just like the others. Another one added to the huge pile, right?

Over to the article, I found each and every point to be equally useful, such basic settings and features, right in front of our eyes, and do we even look into them? Not to say, but Pushbullet indeed is an outstanding app. I am a blogger too, and the app helps me a lot when I am working across my desktop and laptop.

EDIT: Where are my manners. Forgot to thank you. So, thanks for the awesome job that you're doing.

apart from pushbullet, I can vouch for everything else, in particular Now on Tap which is getting to be awesome, reading a star wars blog... now on tap links to images... couple of taps and a little editing I'm rocking star wars wallpaper brilliant...

I've found that the screen is overwhelmingly the battery drainer - everything else pretty trivial (though I've never used Facebook or its app.) My solution is a 30 second screen timeout and then using KeepScreen to identify specific apps to keep lit when on screen. I do use Greenify hibernation when I want the device inactive for long periods but want it on to receive communications. Just got a small pocket charger (with LED flashlight) for emergencies and that saves a ton of worry.

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